In the news release, Latest Data Reveals a Dramatic Surge in
Consumer Complaints Against Airlines, issued 07-Jul-2020 by Upgraded Points over PR Newswire,
we are advised by the company that in the seventh paragraph, the
second airline listed should read "American Airlines (1,268)"
rather than "Alaska Airlines (1,268)" as originally issued
inadvertently. The complete, corrected release follows:
Latest Data Reveals a Dramatic Surge in Consumer Complaints Against
Airlines U.S. airlines saw an increase of 965% in complaints when
compared to the previous year. Foreign airlines saw an even higher
surge with complaints increasing up to 2,220% from the previous
year.
AUSTIN, Texas, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study
from Upgraded Points
(https://upgradedpoints.com/airline-complaints-during-covid-19) has
revealed the shocking increase in consumer complaints likely due to
the impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
Exploding Complaints for U.S. and Foreign Airlines, Online
Travel Agents
For U.S. airline companies, the pandemic has resulted in a
massive increase in consumer complaints: 2,903 in March 2020 but 8,146 just a month later
(April 2020) - a 289% increase in one
month, and a 965% increase from the same period last year (which
saw just 765 complaints).
For foreign airlines, the news was even worse: there were only a
total of 404 complaints for April
2019, yet complaints in March
2020 reached 2,663 and zoomed to 9,374 the following month,
a massive 2,220% increase over the same period in 2019.
The most dramatic increase, however, was seen in the online
travel agent category: while only 33 complaints were lodged for
them in April 2019, 284 were recorded
for March 2020, while 2,304 were
registered for April 2020. This
amounts to a 711% increase in complaints in just 30 days, but an
astonishing year-over-year 6,882% increase.
Commenting further, Miller stated, "When we drilled down
into the data we determined - not unsurprisingly - that more
complaints were registered regarding refund problems than any other
category. In fact, many other categories of complaints, like issues
for the disabled, baggage problems and customer service actually
decreased, no doubt due to the fact that fewer people are flying
during the pandemic. Yet the volume of complaints in this area is
truly mind-boggling: in March of 2019 there were fewer than 100
refund complaints, yet this year has witnessed a gut-busting
17,642% increase - over 17,000 complaints!"
Among U.S. airlines Frontier
Airlines (2,822), American
Airlines (1,268), and United
Airlines (913) received the most complaints in April of
2020.
Foreign airlines showing the most complaints in April 2020 were Air Canada (1,042), Volaris
Airlines (1,964) and TAP Air
Portugal (831).
Leading the pack among online travel booking
agents was Expedia.com - which saw only 29 complaints in
March of this year but 532 refund request issues in April. Agents
such as Cheapoair.com, Justfly.com,
and Chase Travel all had over 100 complaints in
April 2020, compared to their handful
of requests in the month prior.
Analysis Methodology
For this study, data was researched from customer complaints
against travel booking agents as well as domestic and foreign
airlines for the period March-April
2020, comparing those levels with those received one year
prior, in order to gauge the impact due to the pandemic. Using data
from the June 2020 air travel consumer report provided by
the U.S. DOT (Department of Transportation), an analysis and
ranking was performed on the top 10 U.S. airlines, foreign
airlines, and travel booking agents.
For this study, complaints dealing with refunds, ticketing
issues, fares, customer service problems, baggage, sales,
disability issues were all included.
Alex Miller, the founder of
Upgraded Points, stated for the media, "As travel industry
watchers, we were well aware that the recent pandemic has thrown
the airline industry into an uproar, so some increase in customer
complaints was certainly expected. What was not expected was the
sheer volume of complaints - the year-to-year rise was simply off
the charts."
For a fuller discussion, as well as detailed graphics, please
visit the full report HERE.
About Upgraded Points LLC
Headquartered in Austin, Texas,
Upgraded Points is a travel resource company that provides insider
strategies on maximizing travel points, rewards and upgrading
traveler experiences. Launched in 2016 by Alex Miller, Upgraded Points uses targeted
research efforts and in-depth studies to give travelers, as well as
those looking to travel a real understanding of how to maximize
their points and miles. Learn more at: UpgradedPoints.com.
Media Contact:
Alex Miller, Founder
214-646-8866
243045@email4pr.com
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SOURCE Upgraded Points